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November 14, 2003
I have been to the Mountaintop, part two
It took ten days, but I finally was allowed to go on an "Ecotour" of a nearby national park. The company that runs the tours is led by a former Department of Environment official who split ranks with the DOE. He now trains young people to lead tours into Iran's backcountry. It's an embryonic industry, and one in search of clients. As the director told me, of his 150 students, NONE had ever been in a national park before he started taking them there.
We went to Hoji National Park, just 45 minutes from Tehran. In the morning, one had a brilliant view of Damavand, Iran's tallest mountain. Leaves were turning and pomegranates were bursting. The landscape reminded me very much of Idaho, with gently folding dry mountains.
Our leader, despite being at least 60 years old, had incredible eyes. We quickly saw some wild sheep. There used to be 10,000 of these sheep--now because of poaching and habitat destruction, there are only 1,000.
He also showed us tracks of a wolf, leopard scat and wild almonds and pistachios. The students ate it all up, hungry as they are for nature. I was trying to film everything and struggling with the tripod. Luckily I had a young strapping man to help me!
We walked for a couple of hours--the leader showing us with some dismay a government "guest house" that was being built on a hill--and then lunched at a natural spring area. I couldn't believe they would drink out of it, though, as I was sure there had to be giardia!
I did some interviews and then we walked back. By the end of the day I was exhausted, sunburnt (although not on my arms, as women have to wear those silly long coats and scarves even when they're hiking), and I had a strange bite on my hand with a bull's pattern (eegads, hope it's not from a tick!)
Damavand, so brilliant and visible just hours before, was now clouded in smog.
But despite that, I was very pleased to have had the opportunity to get out of Tehran, meet some enthusiastic young environmentalists, and see their leader in action. He is well respected as one of the former protectors of wildlife in Iran. He told me how sad he is to see the current habitat destruction. Whenever I hear this, I wish there was something I could do, but the problem is so endemic and systemic that it seems out of most everyone's hands.
Posted by MJF at November 14, 2003 01:45 PM